End of Year Update--August 2007

Hello everyone!
Well, another school year has ended at the CEE school in Siguatepeque, Honduras. There have been a few changes at the school this year. Mr. David, our English Director, has retired from his position. Though I'm sure his services will be missed, he is keeping busy and active as ever with many projects and activities in the community. Also, the school has hired a new all-school director. Her name is Silvia and she is a bilingual Honduran. She is very friendly and easy to talk to. It is nice to have someone who is bilingual to oversee the entire school.
I am really glad that I returned to teach for a second year. I have had an even better year than last year! This year, I was much better prepared...I understood the language and culture more and how the school operates. I also was able to improve on some things and do things that I didn't have time for last year. In addition, I was able to strengthen some relationships I had built and make new ones! Overall, this year has helped me to "tie up loose ends" and to bring closure to my experience here.
If you haven't heard already, this will be my last year teaching at the CEE school. I have been offered a teaching position in North Carolina! It is in Chatham County and the school is called Siler City Elementary School. I will be a kindergarten bilingual teacher in an immersion program. 70% of the students there are Latino and they put 50% of native English speakers in the class and 50% native Spanish speakers in the class. I will teach in both languages. The goal is that by the time the students are finished with 5th grade, they will be bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural!
I am really excited about this new teaching position and God has provided in so many amazing ways to make it happen! Thank you to all my family and friends for your prayers, encouragement, and support. I would also like to thank my church in Michigan, Lake Center Bible Church, for their prayers, guidance, and financial support. I often talk about my "home church" in Michigan wherever I am!
Well, I definitely will miss many people in Siguat. I have already shed some tears while saying some goodbyes. But, I want to keep in touch and hopefully I will return during the summers to visit and to help out in some way. If any of my friends who are still in Honduras ever need anything, please contact me! I will be glad to help! And, you are all welcome to come visit me in North Carolina! Many blessings to all!
In Christ,
Corinna

Deb Miller's Parents

I would like to give a special thank-you to Deb Miller's parents who visited us this school year. In addition to helping out at the school in a variety of ways and donating many things to the school, they also gave me a digital camera and a travel drive! I couldn't believe it! I had wanted these for quite a while! It has made taking photos and posting them to my blog MUCH more easier and fun! THANK-YOU!!!

The CEE School-(Comunidad Educativa Evangelica)

Here are photos of the school where I taught for two years during 2005-2007. The first year, I assisted teaching English to the preschoolers and taught English to the kindergartners. I also taught Science in English to the third and fifth graders. The second year, I taught English to the preschoolers and kindergartners and taught Science in English to the third graders. In the first picture, you can see the school logo at the entrance to the school. In the second picture, you can see the "comedor", or cafeteria, and the teachers' house. About 20 years ago, the school used to be an airport. You can still tell how the cafeteria used to be an airplane hanger. In the third photo, is a picture of the "escuela" buildings--the 1st-6th grade classrooms and offices. In the fourth photo, is a picture of the "jardin de ninos", or preschool and kindergarten, buildings. In the last photo, is a picture of the "colegio", or high school, buildings.

The Betel Church

The Betel church is the church that I call my "home church in Honduras". It was only one block from the teachers' house, so it was very convenient to just walk there. We came to know a lot of wonderful people there and enjoyed all the activities and services...even though they were all in Spanish! During the week, the church building also served as a school to many neighborhood children. In one of the photos is a picture of Pastor Hugo and his family. Both of his children were my students at the CEE school. In the last photo is a picture of the elders of Betel.

More Photos of Betel Church

Here are some more photos from the Betel church. In the first photo is a picture of Dr. Martinez and his wife Doris. Dr. Martinez is head of the hospital in Siguat, an elder at Betel church, and he and his wife are the founders of the CEE school where I taught. The next photo is a picture of Peter and Maileen Simpson. Many people from my church in Michigan, Lake Center Bible Church, will remember Peter's uncle...Dr. Watterson and his wife Leota...they were missionaries here for 10 years. Peter is an elder at Betel, the youth pastor, and he teaches high school philosophy at the CEE school. Maileen used to teach elementary at the CEE school and she still gets called upon to help out at the school in a variety of ways. She also serves in many capacities at the Betel church and within the community. The last photo is a picture of the clowns from the Betel church when they visited the CEE school. They sang a lot of songs and got all the kids (and teachers) involved. It was a lot of fun!

Photos of the City of Siguatepeque

Here are some photos of the city of Siguat. The first three photos are the stores that we would commonly visit in town...Del Corral, Despensa Familiar, and Tienda Toledo. The next photo is a picture of a small store near our house that we frequently visited. Small stores are called "mercaditos" here. The last photo is a picture of a popular icecream shop in town called KOBS.

More Photos of the City of Siguatepeque

In the first photo is a picture of the park in Siguat. It is across the street from KOBS, the icecream shop. So, it is nice to buy some icecream and then stroll through the park! The next photo is a picture of the bank that we would visit to cash our checks and do any other banking. In the next two photos are restaurants near our house that we would often visit...a Chinese restaurant and a Mexican restaurant. And, in the last photo is the internet cafe that we would go to in order to check our emails, make long distance calls, etc.

More Photos of the City of Siguatepeque

The first photo is a common sight that you could see at the teachers' house...Dominos delivering pizza! In the second photo is a picture of Esther at the market. Because some of us didn't like getting up really early Sunday mornings before church to go to the market, Esther would often take our food orders and go to the market for us to buy fruits and vegetables! It was cheaper to buy our fruit and vegetables at the market than at the supermarket. In the next photo, you can see a woman making pottery. And in the next photo, is a road side stand that you can commonly see, especially near the highways. In the last photo is one of Honduras's ways of advertising. They use the rocks to paint on their logos and messages.

A View of Tegucigalpa (Tegus)--The Capital City of Honduras

Statue of Jesus Overlooking the Capital City of Tegucigalpa

The English Teachers

The first picture is a group picture of the English teachers for the 2006-2007 school year. Only Nikita is not one of the English teachers. She is a friend of ours who works for the Peace Corps. She is working at a local orphanage in Siguat. There are also Honduran English teachers that are not pictured that work at the school. From left to right are: me, Monique, Nikita, Deb, Esther Bettney, and Esther Dobos. The next pictures are what you could commonly see in the teachers' house: Deb working at her computer, Esther grading, Monique making personal cards for others, and Deb and Esther making "pan de coco" which means coconut bread. I often could be found preparing lesson plans in my room or making chocolate chip cookies!

English Bible Study at the Teachers' House

This year, one of the teachers, Monique, and a local missionary, Mrs. Visser, held a weekly English Bible study at the teachers' house. We really enjoyed this time together when we could share prayer requests, read and discuss the Word, and fellowship all in English!

Our Spanish Teacher

Here is a picture of our Spanish teacher, Dona Reina, and her family. Her oldest daughter who is married and has a son is not in the photo. Dona Reina taught Spanish to almost all of us English teachers! We really enjoyed her and her family! Her two children pictured here would often sit in on our lessons and help with translation. All of her children graduated from the CEE school that we now teach at. Her family also attends the Betel church.

Hanging with Friends

Here is a photo of some friends and I celebrating Deb's birthday. Next to me is Gena who was an English teacher at a nearby Montessori school. We are enjoying some icecream from a popular icecream shop in town.

Traveling with Friends

In order to satisfy our visa requirements, we had to travel every three months to a non-bordering country and stay out of the country for 72 hours. Sometimes, we could get a month's extension. The nearest places that we could travel to were Mexico, Belize, or Costa Rica. We would make the best of the requirements by traveling with friends and having lots of fun! Here is a photo of some of my friends in Copan, Honduras. We are on our way to Mexico. Three of the girls in this photo are my three roommates and Caroline, in the purple shirt, is a friend of ours who teaches at a nearby school. Marlon is our "jack of all trades" friend who has been very helpful to all of us. He graduated about 5 years ago from the CEE school that we now teach at. His English is VERY good! He is now studying to be a dentist at a university in Tegucigalpa.

House-sitting at the Hagler Missionary Home

This is a picture taken at the Hagler house. For four months, I house-sat for the Hagler missionary family while they were in the states. Tim Hagler is a pastor here and a trainer of pastors. During that time, a couple from Canada, Wil and Melanie (center), came to stay with me for six weeks while they worked at the Christian camp "Cerro de Luz". In addition to working at the camp, hosting work teams, etc., they did a variety of other activities such as helping out with a VBS, visiting an orphanage, etc. This experience in Honduras satisfied his internship requirements for his study in Christian Ministries at a Bible college in Canada. I really enjoyed spending time with them. They encouraged me spiritually and they were a lot of fun! We especially enjoyed sharing stories of the tarantulas we found in the house! On the far right side is Dave and Esther. This will be their second year here. Dave is a full-time volunteer at the camp. He is a carpenter by trade, but he does a variety of other tasks and activities at the camp in addition to his carpentry work. Esther is a high school English teacher at the CEE school, though she can also be found helping out at the camp in many ways. Esther and Melanie knew each other beforehand through their church in Canada. On the far left side is Peter and Maileen. They are full-time missionaries here. Peter is a high school philosophy teacher at the CEE school and he is a youth pastor and elder at the Betel church. Maileen used to teach elementary school at the CEE school, and she still gets called upon to help out at the school. She also is involved in a variety of activities at the Betel church and within the community.

The Preschool Class Photo

The Kindergarten Class Photo

The "Escuela" Class Photo (1st-6th Grades)

The "Colegio" Class Photo (7th-11th Grades)

My Preschool and Kindergarten Classes

Here are photos of my preschool class (the inside photo) and my kindergarten class (the outside photo). They had just participated in an Easter egg hunt! They were so excited for weeks and couldn't wait for us to have it! Most of the students said that they had never colored Easter eggs before nor participated in an Easter egg hunt. They really enjoyed searching for and finding all the candy and eggs! I really enjoyed these two classes this year. They were both very good classes and the little ones are so precious! Halfway through the year, three orphans from a local orphanage joined our classes. After a bit of adjustment, they fit right in. I will miss all of my students!

My Class of Third Grade Science

Here are some photos of my third grade science class. I really enjoyed this class this year. It was a really small class...only 9 students...so I was able to get to know them more personally and spend more individual time with them. Here you can see them participating in different activities. For example, in one photo they are trying to light a lightbulb when we were studying electricity. In another photo, one of the students just made a fossil using play-doh and a small dinosaur. In another photo, the students were doing an experiment with "oobleck"--a "mystery" green substance that they had to figure out if it was a solid, a liquid, or a gas. In another photo, the students are coloring Easter eggs to celebrate Easter. They also made Easter baskets and we had an Easter egg hunt! In the last photo, you can see some students reading some science books. Last year, the school didn't have any other science books for the children to read other than their textbooks. This year, I brought down some science books that I already owned, books I had bought at garage sales, and books that my church in Michigan, Lake Center Bible Church, had donated. The kids ABSOLUTELY LOVED the books! I had a check-out system where the kids could sign out books and take them home. They would often check out 5 or more books a day to take home!